Smoking at Altitude

[DieselSub]

My 85 Diesel Sub runs great at sea level, but a recent trip to Tahoe (7000ft) had my sub billowing a thick trail of black smoke while climbing the high passes.

I know thinner air means a richer mixture, and that also means higher exhaust gas temps which can be bad for the motor. Soooo..... is this black smoke par for the course and not bad when climbing mountains? Or is there something I should do?

One piece of advice I read is to keep the revs higher when climbing, and that might help reduce the black smoke. Of course, the biggest thing I worry about is engine damage, and making sure to prevent any.

Thanks

 

[joez]

I wouldnt be to worried about it. I would recomend adding a pyro, just so you can keep tabs on it, but i wouldnt loose sleep over it. It doesnt have a tubo, smoke is somewhat normal.

As for running it at higher RPM, that motor will run happily at the governor all day long, as long as it is not really loaded down. The military ran the CUCV 5/4 ton trucks on the interstate, and those have no overdrive and 4.56 gears with 30" tires. They did about 60-65mph and they were at the gov. Just keep your eyes on the guages.